UNA (GUJARAT)/ agencies
Several Dalits were injured as they were attacked when returning from huge Dalit rally in Una. They were beaten up on Monday evening by people of upper caste in two villages near the city in Gir Somnath district of Saurashtra region in Gujarat.
Four policemen also received injuries in the clashes and they were hospitalised. Police had to open fire in the air and burst tear gas shells to disperse mobs.
Thousands of Dalits celebrated Independence Day in Una where seven Dalits were mercilessly flogged for skinning a dead cow by local cow vigilante group on July 11.
15 august saw the end of a 350-km Dalit march from Ahmedabad to Una, the town where four Dalits were publicly flogged by alleged ‘cow protectors’ on 11 July over the skinning of a dead cow.
Dalits, who were assaulted, allege that the police did little to protect them from their attackers. Twenty-six people have been arrested so far.
“It was planned attack on us by upper caste people,” said Babubhai Sarvaiya, a resident of Una.
“Police fired six rounds in the air at Samter village to disperse the mob,” said Junagadh range IG Brajesh Jha after the clashes.
“In both places, police lobbed more than 10 tear gas shells to disperse the mob. The situation is under control and the roads that were blocked in the violence were opened by the police after dispersing the mobs,” he said.
Huge Dalit gathering in Una
Earlier at a huge rally Dalits vowed to intensify their protest and launch a rail blockade agitation in the state if the government did not provide lands to them.
They gave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state 30 days to meet their demands, failing which they said they will intensify their stir by blocking rail routes.
Jignesh Mevani, convener of the Dalit Atyachar Ladat Samiti (Dalit Committee to Fight Atrocity), said at a public gathering in Una that the BJP and Sangh Parivar should stop testing the patience of Dalits and agree to their 10 demands, including grant of 5 acres to each Dalit family in Gujarat.
Radhika Vemula, mother of late Rohith who committed suicide at Hyderabad university hostel in January this year, and Balu Sarvaiya, father of one of the Una incident victims, jointly unfurled the tricolour in presence of JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar at a school ground in costal town Una, almost 400 km from Ahmedabad.
A 10 day long Dalit Pride March culminated with members of the community and social activists holding posters and garlanded photos of Baba Saheb Ambedkar joined the March to mark a new era in Dalit movement amidst rise of gau rakshaks (cow protectors) who often thrash or flog Dalits and Muslims, accusing them of cow smuggling and slaughtering in Gujarat and many other states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
The 10-day ‘Dalit Pride’ march was joined by thousands from towns and villages along the way.
“We give a 30-day ultimatum to the government to meet our demands. This is elaan-e-jung (declaration of war). If they fail to do so, we will block rail routes. If a Patidar leader (Hardik Patel) can go to jail for nine months over demands of his community, I am ready to go for 27 months. When people from across the country will come out to support us, they will say they haven’t seen such a miserable model of development,” said Mevani. The crowd cheered when Mevani called for a jail bharo andolan, or a movement to court arrest.
Also present were Kanhaiya Kumar, president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University students’ union, documentary film-maker Anand Patwardhan, Dalit activist Martin Mackwan and ex-police officer Rahul Sharma.
Mevani, a journalist-turned-human rights activist, criticized the state government for introducing a new land bill which does away with the consent clause for farmers whose land is being acquired, adding the Dalit protesters will also involve farmers in their fight for land rights.
The other key demands of the Samiti include alternative livelihood options, better policy and legal framework for protection against atrocities and prosecution of those involved in the Una incident.
In the towns and villages that the Dalit Pride march passed through, Dalits pledged not to continue with the hierarchical caste occupation, including disposing of dead cattle.